Online Desk:  Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has said all the economic challenges that the country has been facing came from other countries.

“The foreign countries are responsible for every problem and we’re the victims. All the problems including the dollar crisis and inflation are created by them. The media should focus on it,” he said while addressing a seminar titled: “Geology for Sustainable Development of Bangladesh”.

Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) organised the seminar at Petrobangla auditorium in the city on Thursday.

Dr Tawfiq Elahi said that the Western nations have started war and are now giving advice on how to run the economy. “Coming from Washington they give us advice and sometimes we have to accept those.”

The Energy Advisor said the GSB has to move forward with new technologies instead of old ones and their research works should be on a commercial basis.

He also urged the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to take initiative so that GSB can get its royalty from its discovery of the minerals and mines which later become one commercial operation by Petrobangla.

He advised the GSB to sell its research information to different private and public sector entities on a commercial basis.

State Minister Nasrul Hamid said the GSB has many successful discoveries across the country but it has not been getting the financial benefits of these because of the handing over provision to other entities.

There should be provision and coordination among the entities so that it can get the financial benefit of its own discoveries later to be run on a commercial basis.

He also advised the GSB to introduce its commercial services like soil testing, geological survey for large infrastructure projects so that it could earn for its own research works.

He said the GSB has made many discoveries in our mining and minerals but later those were handed over to other entities which have been doing business from those mines and minerals while the GSB has to wait for the government’s financial support to implement other projects.

“This system should be changed and a proposal should come from GSB so that the government can set a royalty for the GSB to enhance its revenue earning,” he added.

He also said that the government wants to utilise all the mines and mineral resources for the development of the country.